Is Russia in Europe or Asia?

Russia is technically a Eurasian country.

Russia is a huge landmass that technically encroaches upon both Asia and Europe.

Russia, which is officially named the Russian Federation, is the largest sovereign nation in the world with a total land size of 17,098,242 square kilometers. It is the ninth most populated nation in the world with a population of 144 million people. Moscow is the capital city of Russia, and it is among the biggest cities in the world. Other large cities in Russia include Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Saint Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg. From north to south of the country, it stretches for about 4,000 km while east to west is approximately 10,000 km. A president heads the state while the prime minister leads the government of Russia.

Russia has two national symbols; the flag and the emblem. The official language is Russian and the currency is the Russian ruble. On the other hand, the main religious groups are Christianity (Orthodox) and Islam. There are several ethnic groups in China including Russian, Ukranian, Tatar, Chuvash, and Bashkir among others. The life expectancy of men is 63 years while that of women is 75 years. Russia is also larger than Pluto regarding the surface area.

Location of Russia

Russia cuts across nine time zones and has coastal regions at the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans. Its land size covers up to a tenth of the world's total land mass. The country shares its international boundaries with sixteen sovereign republics of the world. 77% of the total land mass of Russia is in Asia while the rest is in Europe. Though this is the case, a majority of Russians reside on the European side.

The population density of Russia stands at 27 people per square kilometer on the European part while the Asian region is less populated with a population density of about 2.5 people per square kilometer. In the past, during the late 18th and 19th centuries, the question of whether Russia lies in Europe or Asia was more complicated. Russia used to have other territories in North America. It was difficult to explain where Russia lies because it seemed to have occupied three continents. The issue of Russia owning America was on until 1867 when Russia gave up those territories by selling them to America at the cost of 7.2 million.

There has been an argument on where the European part of Russia ends and where the Asian part begins. With many arguing that the Ural Mountains divide the two sides, others also say that the Volga River draws the boundary of the two. It is, therefore, preferred to state that culturally and politically, Russia is European, but geographically it is more Asian. Regarding economic development, some argue where Russia should lean on in general (whether it should be more European or more Asian). Russians have been able to incorporate both sides of the nation. Europe and Asia possess the same land mass in some areas and is known as Eurasia.